OK, time for a kind of reverse Rorschach test: When you read the following MarketWatch report, what's the first thing that pops into your head?
"Economy Is Recovering, Geithner, Paulson, Greenspan Agree"
The U.S. economy was front and center on the talk shows Sunday, with administration officials past and present expressing guarded confidence that it's in a recovery mode.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, appearing on ABC News' "This Week," said he thinks the economy is back in growth mode and, "We're seeing some encouraging signs of healing" following better-than-expected unemployment data released Friday.
Still, Geithner added, "This is going to take a while, and it's going to be uneven, but there are encouraging signs in this report."
Geithner also expressed confidence that the risk of a "double-dip" recession is receding.
"I think we have much, much lower risk of that today than at any time over the last 12 months or so," he said. "We are in an economy that was growing at the rate of almost 6% of GDP in the fourth quarter of last year," the fastest in almost six years.
On NBC's "Meet the Press," Henry Paulson, Treasury secretary under President George W. Bush when the financial crisis began, said that, "The economy is clearly recovering. There is more certainty. Part of it is confidence and psychology ... but ultimately the private sector will do what needs to be done" to create jobs.
Joining Paulson on the program was former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who said that the jobs report "doesn't signal a turnaround, but a turnaround that has already occurred that is not moving aggressively. It is going to be a slow, trudging thing."
If it's the image of an economic Wile E. Coyote moment, you can feel confident that you are a totally sane and clear-thinking individual.
I'm on the other side of Alice's looking glass. Or else living in 1984.
Posted by: Independent Accountant | February 07, 2010 at 06:56 PM
How can they call it a real recovery when we're still on life support? What happens if the Fed tightens?
I think that when the current programs expire, and the private sector doesn't pick up the bid (especially MBS), the Fed will feign surprise and announce that they have been forced to undertake "further easing".
Posted by: Adam | February 08, 2010 at 08:04 PM
It is extremely important to preserve the illusion of recovery in order to maintain the CONfidence that is the life blood of the banking classes. That is why the official unemployment figures are being tampered with and the so called calculations are dead wrong. The mainstream media barely reports on the scandal of more than 1 million additional jobs lost in the last quarter--but not accurately reported. Even shadowstats.com is being kind.
The truth is irrelevant. Perception is everything. CONfidence must be maintained--at all costs.
This is your Alinskian, Keynesian, Shillerian, Goulsbian, Sunsteinian, Madison Avenue Subliminal Propaganda Behavioral Economics Class Politique hard at work behind Bilderberg/Trilateral (multi-generational banking dynasty) controlled teleprompters.
Posted by: Wil Martindale | February 09, 2010 at 09:55 AM
Well, my reaction happened before I read the damn article, in the intro:
:Geithner, Paulson, Greenspan Agree
Geez, soon as I saw that I headed for the hills!!!
Posted by: jdmckay | February 22, 2010 at 05:40 PM